Replaced old light fixture now nothing in room works


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Old 01-27-13, 10:31 AM
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Replaced old light fixture now nothing in room works

It was supposed to be a quick project. I replace the old light fixture in my son's room with a new one. In the old one the wires (black, white, and yellow) were held down with screws to the fixture. The new one required the wires to be connected with wires on the fixture (white, black and yellow/green). These are the actions I took:

1. Turned old light on.
2. Flipped breakers until I found the one that the light was connected to.
3. Replace fixture.
4. Turned on breaker.
5. Turned on switch. No light.

We thought the connections might not be tight enough, so we stripped more plastic off the wires to make sure they were tight and tried other light bulbs. Other lights on that circuit (i.e. the hall light) come on, but the outlet is now not working in the room. There is no GCFI anywhere upstairs, and the only one in the house is still working.

I would love any ideas on what to do.
 
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Old 01-27-13, 11:21 AM
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Did you install a known good bulb? Do you have a means to test for voltage?
 
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Old 01-27-13, 11:28 AM
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It was supposed to be a quick project. I replace the old light fixture in my son's room with a new one. In the old one the wires (black, white, and yellow)
Is it conduit? I would not expect to see a yellow wire unless it is conduit and I'd be surprised if you had conduit. If cable you should have black, white, bare. On the old light where was the yellow connected. Are there any other wires at the light? Can you post a picture? What is the wiring at the switch? What is the wiring at the receptacle?

If the yellow wire is really just that, a wire with yellow insulation try hooking the light to the yellow and white.
 
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Old 01-27-13, 02:09 PM
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Yes, the bulb is good.

I do have a voltage tester.

I don't think it's conduit, but I am certainly not an expert.

Yes, the yellow was connect with a screw-down connection just like the other two wires.

There are a lot of wires stuck up in the receptacle. The house is old, and I have no idea when the electricity was update, but it wasn't recently. I'm going to attempt to upload some pictures, but I'll post this for now.
 
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Old 01-27-13, 02:20 PM
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Here are pictures of the light and the receptacle. The brownish-beige wire in the foreground is the one I'm calling yellow. The beigeish one in the back is the one that I'm calling white.

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Old 01-27-13, 02:47 PM
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First thing I see wrong is you have the ground connected to the discolored white wire you are calling yellow. The ground goes to the box. If what you are calling a voltage tester is a non contact tester it is not reliable enough for real testing you need a cheap ($8-$15) analog multimeter.

We need to see the switch also. I suspect from what I see there will only be two wires at the switch, one black, one white but we need to know.
 
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Old 01-28-13, 06:52 AM
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We do have a multimeter somewhere. What should I do with that?

I think I may see the problem. It looks like we should be connecting the yellow/brown wire to the white fixture wire instead of the beige wire to the white wire. Is that correct? If so, what do I do with the beige wire? Connect it to the yellow/green one? Cap it?

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Old 01-28-13, 07:40 AM
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what do I do with the beige wire? Connect it to the yellow/green one
That is your ground wire as I explained before connect it to the box.. Never connect a ground to a neutral. I suggest you buy Wiring Simplified from book sellers such as Amazon or in the electrical aisle of home centers.
 
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Old 01-28-13, 07:48 AM
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You don't have conduit. You only have cable, and there are no yellow or beige (factory color) wires - only black, white and bare.

That said, it appears that you have a switch loop, as Ray suggested. The white wire connected to the switch and what looks like a white wire spliced into black wires under a red wire nut both suggest that.

I would try connecting the green/yellow to the box - along with any bare wires - the white to the white, and the black to the black that is in the same cable as the white that is spliced in with the black wires.
 
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Old 01-29-13, 11:22 AM
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I've got it working to a point. The yellow-white is wired to the white, the black to black and the green/yellow grounded. The lighter white wire is connected to the outlet in the room, so do I wire it to the other white wire with both the yellow-white and the beige-white going in to the fixture? If I don't connect it to anything, the outlet doesn't work.
 
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Old 01-29-13, 11:37 AM
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Just to be clear you do not have any beige or yellowish wires. You have only black and white wires plus a ground wire. This will be easier if you just think of it as black and white wires. Yes the white wire for the receptacle goes with the other white wires.

I see also a bare wire that to is a ground and goes to the box. Best to connect it and the green/yellow to a pigtail and the pigtail to the box using a 10-32 machine screw.

Now hopefully not to confuse you but to enlighten you, pun somewhat intended, do you see the white wire connected to the black wires at the light. That is not used as a white wire and by code was supposed to be recolored as a hot wire on both ends. Recolor it black with a felt tip marker or use a band black tape at both the light and the switch.

Advanced wiring 101: That white wire used as hot could have been recolored any color but white or gray or green. Black that I suggested or red are the most common colors used. Yellow or blue are also sometimes used. A yellow wire is always hot never neutral so you can see why calling the discolored white yellow could be confusing.
 
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Old 01-29-13, 11:44 AM
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That depends. When you say
I've got it working to a point.
do you mean the light is working but a receptacle is not?

And when you say
The yellow-white is wired to the white
do you mean that the white fixture wire is connected to the discolored white wire in the ceiling box?

We do have a multimeter somewhere. What should I do with that?
With the fixture removed, the breaker on and the switch on, you should test for 120V between each insulated wire and the box, and between each pair of insulated wires. Do the same with the switch off.

Post what you find and we can advise you from there.

Edit: Ray types faster than I do today, and I think he got the answer.
 
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Old 01-29-13, 12:12 PM
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Thanks so much for your help. All is working.

I did see the bare copper wire when I was fishing around up there and connected the ground to it as you described.

I am (obviously) new to any electrical work, so I hadn't realized about the yellow/white difference. It makes sense now, and my descriptions were just to try and differentiate them.

Thanks again.
 
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Old 01-29-13, 12:38 PM
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Glad you got it, and thanks for the feedback.

Electrical Wiring Methods 101: Yellow insulation is designated for conductors carrying the third, or "C," phase in a 3-phase 120/277V commercial service. It should not exist in a single-phase 120/240V service for a stand-alone house.
 
 

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